Drifted Sparks Series--Part 1. last Chance
by Silver Spider
Summary: After the Beast Wars, Techno-Organic war, the Maximals return to Earth with new forms and a new mission


**Author's Note:** This is my first fanfic so I'd love some feedback. This is a bit different from your average Beast Wars fanfic. Expect a lot more. 

Drifted Sparks Series  
Part 1. Last Chance  
By: Kayla Anasazi (a.k.a Silver Spider)

**Prologue**

     As the last 8 Maximal sparks floated through space, something was drawing them closer to modern Earth… and to the last part of their destiny.

**Chapter 1**

**17 years later,**

     "Hold it, young lady," Mrs. Bailey's gentle voice was now stern, "where do you think you're going?"

     Her doughtier slowly turned around. Deep, dark brown eyes narrowed as Ariana looked up at her mother. She reached out and twirled a lock of her dark, chocolate brown hair around her finger.

     "Hi, Mom," she said innocently, "I was just going out to see my friends."

     "And where are you going to be?" Mrs. Bailey folded her arms.

     "At the dance club," Ariana replied, then when she say her mothers stern look she added, "Please, mom, it's Friday night and I promised my friends."

    "Ah…all right, but brush your hair first. It looks as if a spider made a web in it."

     "Done. Thanks, mom, you're the best," Ariana grabbed her hair brush, put it in her mini-backpack and was out the door.

     After a few minutes of walking, Ariana came to the dance club doors. Inside there was loud music playing and there were so many people on the dance floor, she barley got through.

     "Hey it's about time you showed up," Chris said happily. "Here, pull up a chair."

     "Yeah…we were afraid you might not show," Alex said, "you're mom held you up again...ah?"

     "Yeah." Ariana nodded in agreement, "She always insists on knowing where I am and who I'm with. It's like I don't have a life."

     "Glad I'm not in her place," Alex whispered to Chris, "girls always get that unwanted attention from their parents."

     "You got something to say to me, you say it to my face, rat," Ariana snapped. She obviously herd him.

     "Of course I meant it in the best possible way," Alex said in a defensive, but nerves voice. 

     "Anyway," Chris cut in trying to bring the conversation to safe grounds, "have either of you seen Ryan?"

     "No," Ariana shook her head.

     "Nah…I haven't seen him either," Alex replied, "don't worry, he'll come. Ryan's never let us down before and I don't think he'll start now."

    A half-hour Ryan came and after all 4 had their fun, Ariana said that she needed to go home. She said good-bye to her friends and went out of the club. As soon as she was out side, Ariana pulled out her watch. It was so dark she could barley see it.

     "11:30? Great job, Ariana," she told herself, "consider your self grounded."

     "Arrrr…" came a deep growl behind her.

    Startled, she turned around only to find her self face to face with a wolf-like dog.

**Chapter 2**

     "Okay, nice doggy," she said nervously.

     "Arfff…rrr…raf, " the dog barked louder.

    Now she was scared. Ariana liked dogs, but not when they attacked her at night in a dark place.

     "Stay!" came a strong, deep, male voice, "easy boy." A figure immerged from behind the dog. Ariana looked past the dog to the young man who just came to her rescue. 

    He was gorges. Blond hair, unusual gray eyes. He was dressed in a black leather jacket with blue jeans and sneakers. In one hand he was holding a dog leash. To Ariana's surprise, the dog stopped and sat down. The teen boy came closer, lend on one knee and petted the dog.

     "That a boy," he said, "come on now, back on the leash," The boy reached out and snapped the leash onto the dog's collar. He got up.

     "I am truly sorry," he said to Ariana, "my dogs leash must have come loose." 

     "Looks more like a wolf to me," Ariana said.

     "His father was a gray wolf, " he nodded, "he's a half breed."

     "I didn't know you could keep wolves as pets," Ariana said sarcastically,     "Anyway, thanks for saving me, I was starting to think I would be dog food. My name is Ariana." She extended her hand.

     "I'm Justin Carter," the boy said. They shook hands. 

     "Well, I got to get home," Ariana said.

     "Me too," Justin nodded, "hope to see you around." He turned and was gone in the night fog. 

     "I'm looking forward to it," Ariana whispered and turned to walk back home.

* * * * * * * * * *

     "Where have you been?" Mrs. Bailey said as she saw her doughtier come in, "do you know what time it is?"

     "Sorry, Mom," Ariana apologized and dropped hr mini-backpack on the couch,     "We were having so much fun, I lost track of time." 

     "Fine. It's late got to bed," Mrs. Bailey sighted and walked into the kitchen.

    Thankful she didn't get in trouble, Ariana headed upstairs to her room. She quickly changed into her nightgown and slipped under the warm covers. Ariana turned off the main light and turned on the small light next to her bed.

    Her thoughts wandered. First to her friends then to the strikingly handsome Justin. For some reason, he looked familiar to her, but she couldn't tell where she had seen him before. As far as she could remember she had never seen any one like that. And yet there was something about him. His dog brought up something inside her, too. Perhaps, she was just imagining it, but Ariana would have sworn she had met that guy before.

    She sighed and turned of the light. 

**Chapter 3**

**Monday,**

     "Well, what do you know," Ariana said with a smile, "it's the wolf man."

    Justin smiled, "Hi," he said. 

_    **And I thought I knew all the gorges guys in school,**_ Ariana thought to herself     and giggled quietly, but out loud she said, "Glad I ran into you again."

     "Really?" Justin seemed surprised, "why is that?"

     "I don't know," Ariana admitted, "I haven't seen you in school before." They started walking up the steps of B.W. High.

     "I just moved in this area last week," Justin said, "and I don't make friends very well."

     "Well maybe I can show you around," Ariana offered, "then it wont feel so strange. I owe you that much."

     "You don't owe me anything," Justin shook his head, "it was my fault in the first place."

     "No but I want to," Ariana said, "what's your schedule?" 

     "I'm on team 11A," Justin replied, "first language arts, science, math, and social studies. The lunch and the specials."

     "Not today," Ariana told him, "today team 11A is going on a trip to the volcanic caves after lunch." 

     "You're on 11A too?" Justin asked.

     "Yeah, and so are my friends. I can introduce you, if you want," Ariana said. 

     "Sure, at least I'll know someone in this school," Justin agreed.

     "Great, then I'll see you 4th period," Ariana said, "I have social studies then too."

     "Okay," Justin nodded, "see you then."

* * * * * * * * * *

     "How were the first three periods?" Ariana asked as Justin came in and sat next to her.

     "Okay, except for math," he replied, "I didn't like the teacher."

     "You said it," Ariana nodded in agreement.

     "Okay class, settle down," a male teacher walked in, "We have a new student today, Justin Carter. Please make him feel welcomed. Now, we have no specific plans today but we will talk about where you'll be going after lunch." One of the other student raised his hand.

     "Yes, Andrew?"

     "Is it true that aliens landed there in prehistoric times?"

    The class started laughing. The teacher chuckled. 

     "For those of you who don't know what Andrew is talking about, there were stories that transformers landed there during the early stone age. However, this is yet to be proven."

     A low rumble of laughter came across the class. But Ariana didn't laugh. Instead, she frowned at the teacher's statement. She closed her eye and instead of seeing darkens, she saw a string of numbers and odd symbols. 

1001001001001001

1111111111111111

vdazcbmij

     Ariana's eyes flashed open. **What was that all about?** she thought.

      "Now," she herd the teacher say, "it's time for lunch … you're all dismissed."

Chapter 4 

****

      "Can you believe we have to drive 2 hours to get to the stinkin' caves?!" Chris sat down across from Ariana, Justin and Ryan.

      "Lighten up," Alex said, "at least we get to miss the rest of the school day."

      "I know, I'll miss track," Chris said, miserably, "I'm the champion, the golden rocket."

      "You'll live," Ryan said.

      "Hey," Alex cut in, "aren't you going to introduce us to you're new friend." 

      "Oh sure, Justin these are Alex, Ryan, and Chris. And guys this is Justin."

      "You're new here, right?" Chris asked.

      "Yeah," Justin nodded. 

      "Great then you're coming with us on the trip," Alex said.

      "Have any of you herd the story of aliens landing there in prehistoric times?" Ryan asked.

      "Yeah, one of the guys from our class mentioned it," Ariana replied

      "Think well find any alien fossils?" Chris asked.

      "I think you should get back to Earth," Ariana laughed. 

      "Attention students of 11A," the announcer came on, "All students who have a last name that starts with A through E board bus 1 at this time. Students F through K report to bus 2. L through P board bus 3. Q through Z on bus 4."

      "Looks like Alex and I are stuck bugging each other again," Chris stated. 

      "And looks like I'm stuck separating the two of you again," Ryan muttered under his breath. 

      "Well for once, I wont be stuck with the three of you," Ariana said, "looks like Justin and I go to bus 1."

      "At least you'll be with an intelligent person," Ryan muttered.

      "See you guys later," Ariana got up and walked to the bus area followed by Justin. 

* * * * * * * *

      "If you look to the right you'll see one of many tunnels that divided these caves," came the pleasant voice of a female tore guide in front of them, "these caves are like a maze. If you get lost in them, there's a chance you won't be found for a long time."

     Ariana was only half listening to her. She was looking around the cave, a perplexed expression on her face. **I was here before, I swear it, **Ariana told herself. But she couldn't remember when. Her mother never took her or her younger brother to the caves. So why did she feel like she was here before? 

      "As most of you already know, these caves were part of a volcano that was very much active during prehistoric times. But not to worry, this is a dead volcano now. If you follow me, I will show you some small hot springs that were discovered when people first explored these caves."

     Suddenly, as if to contradict what the tour guide just said, the ground shook violently. Ariana and Justin fell against the wall. Seconds later, the small tunnel the tore guide pointed out opened up wider and both were swallowed by darkness.

Chapter 5 

****

     Justin groaned as he puled himself up from the cold, wet floor of the cave. He took in his surroundings. This seemed like a rather large room of the cave. There were some lights high up on the sealing that seemed to be hundreds of feet high.     Light? Did that mean that people knew about this room? If so why hadn't the tore guide mention this? 

      "So much for the volcano not being active," Justin muttered after he was finally able to get up. Then he remembered, "Ariana!?"

     He looked to the right and spotted her unconscious form. Running up to her side, he fell on one knee and lightly shook her shoulder.

      "Hey," he whispered, "Hey wake up." After a second Ariana groaned and her eyes snapped open.

      "How do you feel?" Justin asked.

      "Fine. Answer that phone, will you," she sat up holding her head, "Where are we?" Ariana asked after looking around. 

      "I don't know," Justin admitted, "must be another room in the cave."

      "It's so big," Ariana said, "Why didn't the tore guide mention it."

      "I don't know that either, but they must have known about it. Look up," she did, "There are lights here. That means that people had to be here to put them up." 

      "Then she would have said something," Ariana argued.

      "In any case let's look around," Justin suggested bringing an end to the argument. 

* * * * * * * * * *

     The room was much larger then they thought. After a few minutes of looking around, they found a small opening in the wall which apparently led to another room.

      "Think this is the way out?" Ariana asked.

      "Let's hope so," Justin replied, "Go ahead." Ariana stepped through the opening first with Justin not far behind. 

     The room was completely dark…until multiple bright lights flashed. Ariana      and Justin shut their eyes protecting them from the bright light. Once they got use to it, they slowly opened their eyes and gasped at what they saw. 

**A SPACE SHIP!**

     It was huge. About as long as two football fields and about 4 stories high. 

      "Maybe those alien stories are not so crazy after all," Ariana breathed. 

     Still in awe, she and Justin stepped a few feet closer to the ship. 

      "Do you really think this is an alien ship?" Justin asked.

      "Have you ever seen a human one like that?" Ariana replied. "No," she whispered more to her self then to Justin. "This…this is the Ark."

Chapter 6 

     Justin didn't know what he was more amazed with, the ship or the fact that      Ariana knew what it was "What did you say?!"

      "This ship…it's called the Ark," Ariana replied. 

      "How do you know?"

      "I…I don't know how. I didn't know until I saw it. Sort of like repressed memory," she replied not taking her eyes off the ship. Ariana walked up to the huge doorway and looked at the control panel which must have been used to open the door.

1001001001001001

1111111111111111

vdazcbmij

     The numbers and symbols flashed in her mind again. Ariana looked up at the panel.

**1234567890**

abmvei

djcz]`

     She immediately recognized the symbols and numbers. **Maybe I have been seeing the codes to this ship**, Ariana thought. Carefully, she punched in the code from her memory. 

     At first nothing happened, then slowly the top half of the door razed. When it was gone, the other half split in two and separated until the giant doorway was cleared. Again Justin was amazed.

      "How did you do that?" he asked.

      "I…I'm not sure," she answered, "I kept seeing the code in my mind and I decided to try it."

      "How long have you been seeing them," Justin thought out loud.

      "First time was today in S.S. class when the aliens were mentioned and the second time was a few seconds ago," she said, "Well, shall we go in?"

     Justin smiled, "It would be rude not to."

     Nervously, they stepped inside the Ark. After walking through the ship for a few minutes, they stopped at the base of a giant computer screen.

      "This must be the ships bridge," Justin said looking around.

      "Who ever ran this ship must have been pretty big," Ariana pointed out, "look at the size of all this stuff."

     Suddenly, the huge computer screen came on. Justin and Ariana gasped and took a few steps back from it. 

      "If this ship crashed here before the stone age," Justin said, "then how the hell are the systems still on line?" 

      "I don't know, but look," Ariana pointed at the computer screen which suddenly showed a huge face. 

      "Greetings, fellow Maximals," it said, "Welcome to the Ark. I…am Optimus Primal."

Chapter 7 

****

     Ariana and Justin stared at the giant robot. Optimus continued speaking, "You may be wondering what is going on. But don't worry I can explain."

      "Yes, pleas do," Justin said.

      "Originally, there were 8 Maximals. There were 4 different types of protoforms. 2 regulars, 1 fuzor, 2 Transmetals, and 3 Transmetal 2s. There names were Rhinox, Rattrap, Cheetor, Nightscream, Depth Charge, Silverbolt, Blackarachnia, and my self Optimus Primal."

      "After the Beast Wars on prehistoric Earth, we took the shuttle within the Ark back to Cybertron. There we fought Megatron again…and lost. Our bodies were destroyed, but our sparks survived. With what little power I had left, I willed for our 8 sparks to come here, to modern Earth. The sparks entered the bodies of 8 human embryos. As the children grew, the sparks remained with them, but giving them no memories of the Beast Wars nor of the War on Cybertron. However, if Megatron was to attack again, to try and repeat what happened on Cybertron and prehistoric Earth, the children would regain their memories of their Maximal lives. They will be able to call up on their Maximal armor but will not be able to transform into their beast modes. Finally their identities must remain secret. Unfortunately, just as the children with the Maximal sparks will seem ordinary, anyone may be a Predacon."

      "If you are listening to this, it means you are one of the 8 Maximals. It also means Megatron is up to his old games and you are needed. To call upon your armor all you have to do is call your Maximal name and the Maximal activation code 'Maximize.' You will receive the armor of the Maximal whose spark you posses."

      "I am running out of time. Good luck Maximals."

     Then he disappeared like a TV being turned off.

      "You believe him?" Justin asked after a few seconds of silence. 

      "It's too crazy not to be true," Ariana replied, "Well?"

      "Well what?" 

      "Aren't we going to try the transformation thing?"

      "You should. You're the one who's been having the flashes," Justin told her,      "I just happened to be here."

      "Oh come on, let's both try it." 

      "Fine. But you go first."

      "Okay…um…there's only one Maximal female so…Blackarachnia Maximize!"

     Immediately, a white wave of light surrounded her. Her long, dark hair split in 8 and hardened. Her legs were covered by a pair of tall golden boots. Her upper body was covered with a sports-like red bra. A roman-like helmet was placed on her head and the rest of her was enveloped in a bluish metal.

      "Hum…" Ariana, or rather Blackarachnia said looking at her new body,      "Transmetal 2, nice. And the best part is, I have all my memories back."

      "Interesting," Justin said. He was not surprised, not after all he'd seen today.

      "Okay, your turn," Blackarachnia said with a sly smile. 

      "How can you be sure I'm a Maximal?" he asked.

      "I'm sure."

      "Okay then…there are 6 males…maybe if…"he started.

      "Silverbolt," she said. Justin frowned at her and she clarified, "You're Silverbolt."

      "I don't suppose if I asked you how you know, you'll give me a straight answer," 

      "Actually this time, you're wrong. I have my memories back don't I?" she said still smiling, "Just trust me on this one, Rover."

      "Fine. In that case…Silverbolt Maximize!"

     Again, the same light surrounded Justin. Powerful metallic wings emerged from his back. His eyes glowed yellow everything else glowed silver. He blinked a few times then looked a Blackarachnia.

Chapter 8 

      "What did I tell you?" she said proudly, "You are Silverbolt."

      "Yes." Silverbolt said looking down at his hands, "and I have my memories back as well."

      "That's nice to hear," Blackarachnia said, a seductive smile coming to her face, "then you won't mind when I do this."

     She reached with both hands, brought his face close to hers until their lips met.     She had missed it so much after such a long time of not being with him. Silverbolt held her tightly with his powerful arms. They kissed for another good 3 minutes before stepping back and looking into each others eyes. 

      "I've been waiting to do that for a long time," Blackarachnia said, smiling.

      "Well, I'm glad you got the chance, though next time you could warn me," but he was also smiling.

      "And miss that natural expression of surprise?" her face suddenly turned serious. "So, back to business. If we're here, Megatron is on the loss again."

      "I assume we have to find the others," Silverbolt said.

      "Right."

      "But it could be anyone."

      "Think back to when our bodies were destroyed, don't you remember whose bodies the other 5 sparks went into?" 

      "Well...I remember the sparks of Rattrap, Rhinox, and Cheetor. But I have no memory of Nightscream's, Depth Charge's, or Optimus'es sparks."

      "Nor I," Blackarachnia shook her head. 

      "Let's attend to the other three for now. We'll concern our selves with Optimus, Depth Charge, and Nightscream later."

      "Fine. Let's go back to the tour group," Blackarachnia said and changed back into Ariana, "They're probably looking for us."

      "Okay, we'll go back and…tell Ryan, Alex, and Chris who they are." Silverbolt also changed back into Justin.

      "They'll never believe us," Ariana said, "how will we prove it?"

      "The activation code," Justin reminded her, "all we have to do is get them to say their Maximal name and the activation code, Maximize."

      "I guess you're right," she agreed, "let's go back now."

* * * * * * * * *

      "Ariana! Justin! Where have you been? We were looking all over for the two of you," said the tour guide, "Are you all right?"

     Ariana started to speak, but Justin quickly said, "We fell into another room. When we finally woke up, we started looking for a way out and here we are."

      "Well it's a good thing you found us," the woman calmed down.

      "Where do we go now?" asked one of the other students.

      "Out," said the tour guide, "we're not staying here waiting for it to blow." 

      "You think it'll blow?" asked another tourist. 

      "No. But I'm not taking any chances. Everyone out."

Chapter 9 

****

      "2 hours there, 2 hours back, miss track and we didn't see anything!" Chris would have cursed if he weren't in school.

      "Quit whining," Ryan rolled his eyes. 

      "Would you rather take tests?" Alex asked.

      "I'd rather run around the field," Chris replied, angrily. 

      "Oh, stop it with the track!" Ryan exploded, "have either of you seen Ariana or Justin?"

      "No," Alex shook his head, "Wait! Wasn't it their group that got caught in the earthquake?"

      "Yeah," Chris agreed, finally taking his mind off racing, "hope they're okay."

      "Hey, guys. We're back," came Ariana's voice. The three boys ran to them.

      "Are you guys okay?" Chris asked, "we heard about the earthquake." 

      "We're fine," Ariana replied, "but we have something to show you. We found how E.T. phones home." 

      "You found the aliens?" Chris asked, excitedly.

      "Even better," Then she told them the whole story about the Ark.

* * * * * * * *

      "You're expecting us to believe that?!" Alex shouted, "I think you've breathed in a little too much volcanic gas. How gullible do you think we are?!"

     Ariana shrugged, "We didn't expect you to believe it. Say your Maximal name and then 'Maximize'. That's all the proof you'll need."

      "Okay," Chris said, "pretend, for a second, that I believe you. What would my Maximal name be?"

      "You're Cheetor," Justin told him. 

      "Cool. A fast animal. Okay then…Cheetor, Maximize!" Suddenly the Transmetal 2 Cheetor stood in front of them.

      "Wow," was all that Alex could say. 

      "Incredible," Ryan breathed. 

      "Hey, I remember," Cheetor said, "the Beast Wars and all that's happened on Cybertron afterward." he turned to Ariana and Justin, "And you two…" he tried really hard not to laugh, "you were so…" Before he could finish, Ariana and Justin covered his moth quickly.

      "That's enough," Ariana said, "don't get excited."

      "Well," Justin turned to Ryan and Alex, "you're next."

     Ryan and Alex stood with their moths a gap. They couldn't believe what just happened. Ryan was the first to snap out of it. 

      "Who are we?" he asked. 

      "You're Rhinox and Alex, you're Rattrap." Justin replied. 

      "Well then let's take these new bodies for a test drive. Rattrap, Maximize!"

      "Rhinox, Maximize!" Both transformations were complete, and the two returning Maximals looked around at themselves.

      "Cool my wheels are back," Rattrap commented. 

      "Now that you know who you are, change back." Justin advised, "We don't want      anyone seeing and asking questions."

      "Robots in the halls wouldn't be the worst thing that happened to this school, but okay," Rattrap said and everyone changed back. 

Chapter 10 

****

      "We must also watch out for Predacons," Justin reminded the others, as they were walking from school, "they would probably be our age. Maybe in the school."

      "Most likely they're in this area," Ryan agreed, "Megatron would want to eliminate us. We are a threat to his plans, whatever they are."

      "Guys we have another problem," Ariana said, "We need to find Optimus, Depth Charge, and Nightscream. Although I would suggest holding up the search for Depth Charge, Optimus is our leader and Nightscream will get in trouble on his own. He is the youngest."

      "Maybe…" Ryan thought aloud, "Maybe that's why we can't remember them."

      "What in the name of the seven spiral galaxies are you talking about?" Alex asked.

      "Well, we're all about the same age, right? Our sparks entered our bodies at about the same time. But Nightscream was a younger transformer. I think he maybe younger now too." Ryan explained his thought.

      "Don't tell me we'll have to deal with a little kid," Ariana begged, "it's bad enough putting up with my brother everyday. We won't be able to deal with a little kid on the battle field." 

      "It may not be a convenient case, but it is possible," Justin insisted, taking Ryan's side, "it won't work for Optimus or Depth Charge, though. They were our age."

      "What if…," Chris started, when all eyes fell on him so he continued, "what if Big Bot decided to come before the rest of us, you know, be older on purpose to be in charge." 

      "Actually you maybe right, Chris," Ariana agreed, "but, what about Depth Charge?" 

      "Well, he died before the rest of us," Justin said, "during the Beast Wars. Maybe that has something to do with it. In any case we still need to find them."

      "So what do we do now?" Alex asked, "how do we look for them?"

      "With Nightscream it'll be easier. There aren't that many younger kids in this area," Ariana said, "It'll be easy to convince them, too. Optimus, however, may pose a problem. We don't know how much older he made himself. And I don't even have a clue how to look for Depth Charge."

      "We also need to know who our enemies are," Justin said.

      "Is you memory still under warranty?" Alex said, sarcastically. "Hello! The name Preds doesn't ring a bell, dose it?"

      "That's not what I meant," Justin snapped back, "I know it's the Predacons. I meant we don't know who they are."

      "Yes. And if they know who some of us are…"Chris trailed off, "What if they know who Nightscream is? If he is a kid, they could take him out easily."

      "Even if they don't know," Ryan pointed out, "I'm sure they're looking for him just as we are. We must find him first."

      "So we all agree," Ariana concluded, "the first order of business is to find Nightscream and look for Optimus and Depth Charge later. We can live without them for a time."

      "You never did respect the boss monkey," Alex muttered.

      "No," Ariana contradicted, "I never respected and always questioned all of my commanders." Everyone laughed at that.

      "Anyway, it's 5:30. I gotta get home, mom's going to be so mad if I'm not home on time." She looked at her watch, "I'll keep an eye out for Preds and Nightscream."

      "Same here," Chris said.

      "Me too," Alex nodded.

      "Ariana, is Telatron 1 still on line?" Ryan asked, "Other wise we have to be around there constantly and that won't be very comfortable. If it's on, the Ark will have some kind of protection."

      "Telatron 1? Well it was when we were there. I had to use the access codes. But I don't remember if I locked it down when we left." Ariana looked uncomfortable.

      "You left the Ark unguarded?! What are you nuts?!" Alex almost yelled.

      "Calm down," Ariana told him, "it'll be alright for a few hours. And when I get home I'm sure I can check up on it through my lap top."

      "You can access the Ark's systems through a lap top?" Chris asked, "In that case it's in trouble. Anyone with enough computer knowledge could access it then."

      "They can't get into the systems without the Arks access codes," Ariana told him. She turned to the others. "If Telatron 1 isn't on I can bring it back online. The Ark will last for a few hours."

      "I gees you're right. See you latter." They split up and each went a separate way.

Chapter 11 

      "Mom, I'm home," Ariana dropped her book bag on the couch and raced up to her room.

      "Did you have a nice field trip?" her mom yelled from down stairs. 

      "Yeah, great. Very interesting stuff," Ariana yelled back.

      "All right. Dinner will be ready in an hour. Come down then and bring your brother with you," Mr. Bailey told her.

      "Okay, mom," Ariana grabbed her lap top and got to work. First order of business was to secure the Ark from intruders. Ariana carefully punched in the access codes which got her into the Arks defense systems. Of course the Ark wasn't without other defenses so for the next hour she worked on getting past those. By the time dinner was ready, Ariana had got past 3. She didn't know how many more there would be so she carefully closed the lap top and headed down stairs. On the way she remembered to get her brother. Walking into his room, she found him playing video games. 

      "Come on, Jamie. Mom wants us at the diner table," she told him.

      "Just a minuet, I'm at the last level," he kept playing.

      "Jamie, NOW!" he sighed and followed her out of his room.

      "One more thing," she stopped, "from now on you are not to go in my room, understand?"

      "I'm never allowed in your room," Jamie complained, "why did you bring it up now? I haven't been there forever."

      "Because right now it's more important then ever," Ariana prayed the 10-year-old would take her seriously, "and you can't touch my computer either, okay?"

      "But I've played games on it before and nothing happened," Jamie objected.

      "I know, I know. I'm not mad," Ariana said, "but important things are going on and I can't have you messing it up. Deal?"

      "Deal," Jamie didn't look happy.

      "Look I'm sorry but it's way too important," Jamie looked like he was about to cry. Ariana thought for a moment, "Tell you what, I don't have school on Wednesday so I'll take you where ever you want."

      "Really? Promise?" Jamie started to smile.

      "Yeah I promise. Now let's go down before mom gets mad."

* * * * * * * * * *

     After dinner, Ariana got back to her lap top. She didn't look up for 2 hours until her mother yelled, "Jamie! Lights out!" from down satires. After that, she worked for another hour. By that time she had gotten through 10 defenses. It seemed they got harder as she went and there seemed to be no end to them. Finally, Ariana noticed a little message at the edge of her screen that said that there were 12 defenses. 10 down two to go, she thought, but I bet they'll be the toughest. She was right. Defense number 11 took nearly an hour. Ariana yawned and looked at her clock. 

      "11 p.m.?" she yawned again, "come on, Ariana you can do it. Just one more defense to take down." Then she thought for a moment, "funny thing would be it Telatron 1 was on line and I wasted 4 hours. But We're better safe then sorry."     She continued working. Another hour passed before the end was in sight. Ariana worked for another 15 minutes before she finally got through the last defense. Then she stared at her computer. 

      "Ryan was right," she whispered to her self, "Telatron 1 is off line." It took her another half hour to get it back on line. 

     By the time she finished it was 1 in the morning. Well enough excitement for one day, she thought. After changing she climbed into bed and immediately fall asleep only to be awakened 5 hours latter by her alarm clock. 

Chapter 12 

**Tuesday, **

     The school day went fast for everyone. At the end of it, the Maximals had agreed to meet at the local fast food place to discuss their situation further. When everyone had come, Ryan addressed Ariana, "Were you able to get into the Arks defenses?"

      "Yeah," she replied and yawned, "You guys owe me a good night sleep. Anyway, I got through all the defenses and put Telatron 1 back on line. So the Ark will be fine."

      "So you did forget about it when you left yesterday," Alex cleared up.

"And I paid for it too," she leaned her head on Justin's shoulder, "I'm so tiered." 

Justin patted her hair and then turned to the others, "Did any of you run into any Predacon activity?" he asked.

      "Nah…whole bunch of nothing," Alex shook his head, "After such a long time I was actual looking forward to kicking their butts."

      "Me too," Chris said, "but I haven't seen them either. I didn't find any trace of Nightscream either."

      "We have to look harder," Justin said, "we can't loss a Maximal or let a child get killed."

      "You're right," Ryan agreed, "so for starters…" he didn't finish because Ariana got up, "what is it?"

      "Sorry guys but I have to make a quick trip to the bathroom," she said, "splash some cold water on my face so I can stay awake. Don't get into anything interesting while I'm gone." With that she ran off. 

* * * * * * * * * *

     Ariana felt better after washing her face. When she came out of the bathroom, she turned to walk back to the guys but her attention was directed to the back door of the fast food place. She slowly walked towards it and leaned flat against the wall so that the people outside couldn't see her. She didn't see any faces either, but she did hear two male voices. 

      "You are certain they found the Ark?" asked the first, more deeper voice.

      "Sure as I'm standing here, boss," said the second voice with somewhat of a cowboy accent. 

      "In that case they must not reunite with the other Maximals," said the first.

      "Ah hat to tell you this, partner, but they already have three others. The rhino, rat, kitty, wolfy, and sugar-bot are joined together. They know they're Maxis." 

      "What!? You imbecilic fuzor-freak! How could you let that happen?" The first voice yelled.

      "Well...ah would've just slagged them but…" the second voice was hesitant,      "well they were together all the time. Ah mean the odds, 5 against 1."

      "Coward!," shouted the first, "Well they're still missing the bat, fish boy, and most importantly, Optimus. They are weak without their leader."

      "Ain't they likely to find battsy soon?" the second asked, "ah mean they know him well enough."

      "Fool! They know him, yes, to be sure. But they don't know that he is a Maximal. And it better stay that way, or else there won't be any of you to recycle.     Got that?"

      "Sure thing."

      "Good. Now go, find them."

      "Consider it done," Ariana heard departing feet. It was the only sound for a while besides her pounding heart. Then the first voice spoke, probably to himself. 

      "The Maximals are as foolish as ever. The fact that they can't find Optimus and Depth Charge is no surprise. But the bat boy? I would have expected better      from Blackarachnia. But she is a Maximal now." After a moment of silence,     Ariana herd departing steps again. She knew how they were: Predacons. She      sighed and went back to the table.

Chapter 13 

      "So tell me," Alex spied a coke when she sat down, "how long dose it take an average girl to apply her makeup?"

      "I want applying makeup," Ariana snapped and buried her head in her hands.

      "What's wrong?" Justin asked in a concerned voice.

      "Well, I come out of the girls bathroom and I thought I heard noises by the back door so I listened and…" She told them what she heard. 

      "It was Preds, no question about it. And they were definitely looking for us," she said, "And I could identify them both right now."

      "Okay who were they?" Ryan asked.

      "One of them was Quickstrike…," Ariana told them.

      "No big deal," Chris put in.

      "And the other was…" Ariana posed. She took a deep breath and then continued, "It was Tarantulas." 

     Everyone immediately fell silent. Justin narrowed his eyes and cursed under his breath. Everyone knew that he and Ariana had their personal scores with      Tarantulas, and nothing would stand in their way if they wanted to do something about him. If needed there wouldn't be much of him to recycle. 

      "I know how you guys feel about this," Chris said quietly, "I'm sorry he's one of the first we discovered."

     Ariana took another deep breath, "Our personal score with that creep will have to wait," she said, "I overheard that they know who Nightscream is and that they are going after him."

      "What?" chorused around the table.

      "Yeah," she nodded, "Tarantulas also said something like 'The fact that they can't find Optimus is no surprise. But the bat boy? I would have expected better from Blackarachnia.' That means I should know who Nightscream is."

      "It doesn't mean anything," Justin tried to make her feel better.

      "Well it dose mean we have to work harder at finding him," Ryan said and got up from the table, "We can't let the Preds find him first."

* * * * * * * * * *

     So everyone decided to search the area that day. They still didn't have a clue of how to go about doing it, but they decided to split up and look anyway.

     By the time it was 7 p.m., they met up in the same fast food place and compared notes. It turned out no one found anything. After another quick look, everyone decided to call it a day.

     Ariana got home at 7:30. Her mother was at the door with a purse in hand. 

      "Oh Ariana. Thank god you're home. Listen, darling, I have an important meeting to run to. Please watch Jamie while I'm gone and put him to bed at 9 or 9:30. Okay?"

      "Alright mom," Ariana nodded.

      "Thank you, sweetheart. You're an angel. Bye." Ariana locked the door behind her mother and went up to her room. When she got there, she sat down on her bed and took out her lap top. Then an idea came to her. She could check the elementary school through her computer and pick out all the possible children. She got to work.

Chapter 14 

     At 8:45, she went down to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. As she started back up stairs, she thought she heard strange noises out side. Ariana quickly ran up to her room and looked out the window. Something was climbing up the side of her house. Ariana got a glimpse of what looked like 8 legs. She didn't need anymore then that.

      "Tarantulas!" he had found her. Suddenly Ariana realized something: He wasn't headed towards her window. He was headed for Jamie's. Seconds later she heard a loud thump and a terrified scream. Her first instinct was to run and save her brother, after all she was the one Tarantulas was after. But then she realized how foolish that would be. Who knew if Tarantulas came alone. For all she knew Quickstrike or someone else was with him. She couldn't handle it alone if that was the case.

     Ariana grabbed her phone and dialed, "745-83-72."

     She waited.

     Beep.

     She waited.

     Beep.

      "Hello?" 

      "Justin? Justin I need help," Ariana cried in the phone, "Tarantulas broke in. He's in Jamie's room and I don't know if he's alone or what. Please come quickly." 

      "Okay calm down," Justin instantly understood, "I'll be right there. Do you want me to call the others?"

      "Yeah, but please hurry." She hung up and ran to her brothers room.

     The room was a mess: bed turned over, furniture in pieces all over the room, the TV and VCR were smashed. The lamp on the ceiling was swinging back and forth, slowly. It lid up a corner near the window, and Ariana was horrified.

It was Tarantulas. He was holding his weapon in one hand and Jamie by the throat with the other. Quickstrike was there as well, his weapons also fully loaded and ready to fire. But Ariana practically ignored him. Her attention was focused on Tarantulas and her imprisoned brother. 

      "Let him go," Ariana pointed at Jamie, "your fight is with me."

      "Ah Blackarachnia. So good to see you after such a long time. I know things have changed but don't tell me you care about little twerps all of a sudden," Tarantulas game an evil laugh. 

     "I care about my brother," Ariana said, "now let him go. I'm the one you want."

      "On the contrary," Tarantulas responded, "you aren't the center of the universe. This little brat is the one I want. And now I'll be leaving."

     Ariana tensed. Tarantulas wanted Jamie? But why? The only reason her brother could be involved in this war would be if he was…

      "Nightscream…"

Chapter 15 

****

     It was completely unbelievable to Ariana, and yet it made perfect sense. Tarantulas had said that they knew Nightscream as a person just didn't know him as a Maximal. He also said that Ariana, of all, should know who he is. And it all fit together. 

     Seconds after these thoughts flashed through Ariana's mind, a strong gust of wind came from the a ready broken window. The Predacons and Ariana both turned when they heard a laud, deep, howl. Quickstrikes face twisted in terror as they all saw Silverbolt fly through the broken window and took him down. Quickstrike smashed against the wall. He didn't rise again. 

     Silverbolt then went for Tarantulas, but Ariana grabbed his arm, "Silverbolt no!     He's got Jamie."

     Now that she said it, Silverbolt did see the boy, uselessly struggling against Tarantulas's strength.

      "Why dose he want your brother?" Silverbolt wanted to know.

      "Because he's Nightscream," Ariana suddenly got an idea, "Jamie," she shouted to her brother, "Jamie, say 'Nightscream Maximize!' Don't ask why, just say it." She sowed him by transforming into Blackarachnia. 

     Jamie was in no position to argue with her. He struggled against Tarantulas again and this time managed a second for breath. He took the opportunity.

      "Nightscream Maximize!"

     Tarantulas was so astonished that he lost his grip. Not that he could hold on to a wiggling bat anyway. He let go and the know transformed Nightscream took the opportunity and rose to the ceiling. 

      "I have no idea who you are," Nightscream said, "but you are leaving…NOW!" Nightscream shot a hook out of his moth. It attached to Tarantulas and began draining him of his energy. Tarantulas did not anticipate this. He was not present at the Techna-Organic war on Cybertron and didn't know what Nightscream was capable of. 

      "This isn't over," Tarantulas ground. He separated the hook from himself, grabbed the unconscious Quickstrike, and headed for the window, "I'll be back." With an evil laugh he jumped down and landed on the ground. 

     Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, and Nightscream changed back into their human forms, and ran up to the window to see if the Predacons would plan anything else. But when they looked down, they saw nothing. Ariana and Jamie turned back and looked at the inside of his room. 

      "What do we get?" Jamie asked quietly. 

      "Grounded till we move out," Ariana said solemnly, "give or take a few years."

      "Mom's gona kill us," Jamie looked even more horrified then when he was held by Tarantulas.

     Suddenly there were several knocks on the door. 

Chapter 16 

****

     Ariana and Jamie's faces turned ghost pale, thinking it was their mother. But then they heard teenage male voices. 

      "Ariana. It's Cheetor," came her friends voice from behind the door, "hold on.     We're coming."

     Ariana couldn't help but laugh. She ran down stairs, and opened the door. The other 3 Maximals were all in robot form and held their weapons, loaded and ready to fire. 

      "Sorry guys," she tried extra hard not to laugh, "but, you just missed the party."

      "What?! You mean we came all this way, and we don't get to slag any Preds?!" Rattrap changed back into Alex. 

      "Well, you can help fix my brothers room, your help would be most appreciated there. Oh and I got good news," Ariana suddenly remembered, "Guess what! We found Nightscream."

      "Is it your brother?" Ryan asked.

      "Yep. Tarantulas was after him, not me," Ariana led them to her brothers room.

      "Wow," Chris said as they entered, "this is worse then my room," then he looked down at Jamie, "So you're the newest Maximal, huh? Nightscream."

     Jamie nodded, "I'm not sure I want to be. I mean playing hero on computer is one thing, but in real life?"

      "Don't worry, bro," Ariana reassured him, "playing hero is Justin's job." Everyone laughed. 

      "Look on the bright side: you can fight without ever getting in trouble." Alex said.

      "Speaking of trouble, we're going to get plenty of it when mom comes home,"     Ariana suddenly remembered, "not only is your room suppose to be in one piece and you're suppose to be in bed, but we're not suppose to have 4 teenage guys in the house," she turned to her friends, "so, who ever can fly, fly. Who ever can't, you know where the front door is. Everyone out."

      "What about helping you clean?" Justin asked, a little hopeful he could stay a little longer, "I did make part of the mess."

      "Okay you can stay a while," Ariana pretended not to like the idea. In truth, she was thrilled, "but as for the rest of you: out." 

     When the other three guys left, Ariana, Justin, and Jamie got to cleaning the room. They managed to finish the job by 10:30. After that Ariana put Jamie to bed and returned to her room with Justin. 

      "The past two days were certainly…interesting," Ariana chuckled to herself. She looked at Justin, who was standing near the window. His face was partially in shadow, but Ariana could still see the sad expression on it. "Justin? What's wrong?" she came up to him and looked him in the eyes. Once they use to shine a glories gold color. Now they have dimmed somehow, like the dark shadow that spread across his face. And his heart.

Epilogue 

****

      "It's just that…" Justin turned away from her, "All of today's fighting has made me realize just how dangerous this war will be. It wont be like the Beast Wars or the Techno- Organic war. There is so much more at stake. Before, it was just our lives, but now there will be so many people depending on us. I don't want this to be like the Great War when Autobots and Deceptacons used this planet as just a battlefield, not considering the people at all." 

     Ariana took his face in her hands, "And it wont be, I promise you. We're human too now, remember? Our families and friends are at stake." 

      "Your family is," Justin whispered, suddenly feeling his heart contract painfully. 

      "What?"

      "Nothing," Justin finally looked at her again, "I should go" he leaned forward and kissed her chastely on the lips, "Good-bye." With that he swung one leg over the window, transformed into Silverbolt, and flew of into the night. 


End file.
